The present disclosure relates generally to a composition for treating fluid and methods of making and using same, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a composition and method for fluid treatment by adding facultative microorganisms and/or nutrients to the fluid.
Microbes have been used to treat water for years (sewage, mosquitoes, pesticides, etc.). Typically, aerobic bacteria are used for waste water treatment to break down contaminants. Aerobic organisms are used in aerobic ponds and anaerobic bacteria are used in digesters.
However, microbes have not typically been utilized in the treatment of all types of fluids. For example, the development of tight gas resources commonly involves hydraulic fracture stimulation with large volumes of water-based fluids. The fluids that flow back to the surface (“frac water”, flowback water, flowback fluids) commonly contain contaminants such as frac fluid chemicals/additives (i.e., polymers, surfactants, friction reducers, non-emulsifiers, permeability modifiers, scale inhibitors, biocides, dissolved salts, etc.), residual hydrocarbons and organics, various ions, dissolved organics (gasoline/diesel-range organics, methanol, glycols, residues), dissolved and suspended solids (sand, silt, iron sulfide) and undesirable bacteria that must be decreased or removed so the water can be recycled/reused in further field development, or disposed. There are numerous water treatment methods that can be used for cleaning up frac water, and many of the methods involve use of tanks or pits such as holding tanks, settling pits and/or oxidation ponds for removal of contaminants.
To this end, although microbes are used to treat water, there is a need for the use of facultative anaerobes in the remediation of frac water and further improvements are desirable to enhance the use of such bacteria in the treatment of other fluids. It is to such a composition(s) and methods of making and using such composition(s) that the present disclosure is directed.